Happy Easter!

We had quite the Easter celebration this year! Easter Sunday coincided with General Conference (for the LDS church) so it was a nice lazy day. And the Easter Bunny did not forget Seoul! Yep, cute Baby Alive doll that makes noise. Nope, Seoul is not a fan. Truthfully, she hated the doll the first day - backed away and shook her head no. The yogurt melts and eggs were a hit.




We did a small easter egg hunt in our living room and Seoul figured it out. We told her to find the eggs and put them in her bucket and she did! We got it on video but I'm not sure it will ever make it to the blog, to be quite honest :) Don't hate me.






Getting ready to go to Evan's house for dinner. Yum! Love ham and potatoes! Cousin Trevin helped his mom with the crescent rolls and he made Seoul her own little baby ones. Cute! (Thanks Trev... super fun he thought of it!)

The next day we went to my mom's house for Easter dinner again. Yum! Love ham and potatoes! (It was delish... different variations of potatoes and veggies and ham and rolls). Uncle David showered the kids with some Easter goodies. Thanks! And the beautiful, professional cake you see below is done by yours truly :) Haha! My awesome mother-in-law gave me a whole set of professional cake decorating stuff so I put it to good use. Let my side business begin!

The following Sunday we cooked our own Easter dinner... so we could have leftovers plus the ham hock for split pea soup. Yum! Love ham and potatoes! (and pea soup!). I made Seoul an Easter dress and I think it turned out rather well. She picked the fabric herself :)

I took Seoul to see the Easter Bunny at Parson's Pharmacy. She was interested and liked watching the other kids get their photo taken. Too bad it was a repeat of the Christmas Santa picture. (Our scanner is broken so I couldn't post the professional pic taken - it was a better picture of Seoul's sad little face). She cried (obviously!) and kept pushing the bunny's arms away from touching her. I am such a mean mom!

So it was a lovely holiday week for us. We are grateful for family and good food (times 3). We are grateful for Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for us. We are grateful for plastic eggs that Seoul constantly brings us to open. Happy Easter!

Special Persons Day

Amanda invited Seoul and me to Grandparents / Special Persons Day at her school. Ella got dibs on Grandma so Amanda had to make do with us :) Really I think she just wanted Seoul to come but right now we're a package deal.

First was lunch. Amanda picked our gourmet lunch of mashed potatoes with turkey gravy, vegetables (which according to her they make you choose now), roll, and chocolate milk. It wasn't half bad, actually.

Then we got to meet Amanda's teacher. The kids had to interview their guest(s) and then tell the class something interesting they learned. Amanda said my favorite color is red and Seoul likes crackers. That's us in a nutshell!

Next we went to the bookfair (I used to love these as a kid!). Amanda and Seoul both got a book to add to their libraries - fun!




Finally we got to play at recess... the best part of the day, you know! Amanda played 4-square with friends while Seoul roamed around. Then Amanda took her to swing for a few minutes.

We did stop by Ella's classroom to say hi for a minute. Seoul loves her cousins! So, the funniest part of the time to me was when Amanda and her girlfriend got all up in a tither that a boy stole Amanda's jacket while she was playing 4-square and then had to give it back to Amanda himself (rather than give it to the friend who chased him to give back to Amanda). Oh, the days!

Thanks for a fun time Amanda! Seoul got her first taste of a school day.

Cousin Time... from February!

Oh, how time does fly! I get a little overwhelmed by the number of pictures we take and deciding which ones are awesome enough to post. Then the time spent to upload photos and add captions. Boohoo me. With that being said, here is a long overdue post:

Klorissa, AJ, and Cason came to visit Oregon in February. They got to see our new house and visit and the kids got to play together. Joyful times! Seoul wasn't fully walking then so it was Cason exploring and Seoul watching him. I think they had fun together... for as much as they could verbally express :)


Yay for timer option on cameras for family photos!



Cason got in touch with his feminine side playing with the purple & pink butterfly balloon, yet didn't lose sight of his masculinity since he was chewing on a baseball bat! Along with that he learned how to feed a "baby" pony. Seoul is looking on with approval. (Don't worry, Cason is all boy and we won't forget that!)




Seoul got spoiled by the bag of birthday goodies! Thank you! She loves the Ritz, of course, plus a book, some shoes, other stuff, and just look at her expression holding the socks. Two packages of socks. She calls them "sockies!" (and currently loves to pull them out of her drawer)!




We walked to a nearby park since the day was beautiful. Seoul loves the swings. She kicked her feet back and forth, learning to move herself. Cason loved it and toodled around from activity to activity! It's so fun watching kids interact, but not really interacting. They play near each other but not necessarily with each other at this age.

The daddies with their kiddos on the bouncy animals.




Hmm... what next??


Lovin' those swings!


All kinds of stuff to do!




YEAH!



Tunnel time!

Of course we played outside at home for a while. We love our little neighborhood because it's nice and quiet with little traffic. When a car would come we would just call "game off" and the kids would move out of the road.

Wait for me Cason!

Kids and shadows! Cason loved the rocks on the property across the street.

Getting sleepy...

Love ya Cousin!

It's really fun for Kelley and Klorissa to have babies close to the same age. Lots of experiences to share and fun getting to know the babies!

Canby is famous for their ferry. Ok, maybe not famous but it does boast it's own ferry to cross the Willamette River. Little did we know it was FREE if we just walked on. So instead we PAID for our car to go across one way... then PAID to go back across to Canby. Yep, we're silly peeps.

Kendy and Ken came to visit for a little more family lovin'. Sad times when it was good-bye cousin - see ya next visit! We are planning a trip this summer to Arizona to visit them on their turf. Can we stand the heat??



Thanks for coming guys - we love you!

Funny Antics

Funny Story:

After Seoul's nap she has a snack - a combination of baby puffs, yogurt melts, crackers, veggie puffs, etc. She was eating them from her bowl in the living room with Kelley. I was working on the computer in the office. Around the corner she comes walking toward me asking for yogurt (melts). Since she was empty-handed I asked her to check her bowl. So off she goes toddling out the office back to the living room. Lo and behold, she comes back to me WITH her bowl. Empty. Not intending to ignore my child, I ask her to go ask Daddy to get her more. So off she goes yet again. I watch her walk out the door to the living room. Then I heard music from a toy in her bedroom so I figure she got some more or at least had her attention diverted. Wrong. Seoul comes walking into the office again with her empty bowl just shaking her head at me. Guess she didn't get more...? (that begs the question: was daddy ignoring her?)

March Madness Update

Sad day. I'm out. Seoul and Kelley are tied... both pulling for West Virginia to take it all. I picked Kentucky - BOO.

We all got lucky Seoul didn't lose or else she would have been kitchen duty all week. She might have had fun but I don't think Kelley and I could survive on yogurt melts, cheerios, and crackers.

All in good fun, eh?



Breakdown (by points):

Round 1
Kelley - 22
Seoul - 20
Joo Lin - 25

Round 2
Kelley - 16 [38 total points] - Kelley realized his whole left side of the bracket was toast
Seoul - 14 [34 total points] - Seoul knew BYU couldn't pull it off again
Joo Lin - 18 [43 total points] - I was feeling good about my choices

Round 3
Kelley - 16 [54 total points]
Seoul - 12 [46 total points]
Joo Lin - 12 [55 total points]

Round 4
Kelley - 16 [62 total points]
Seoul - 16 [62 total points]
Joo Lin - 0 [55 total points] - yep, stupid Kentucky.

Note: reviewing last years post I see that Seoul did play. No bracket of her own but we gave her the benefit of ALL WINS.

It's MY party and I'll CRY if I want to...

Just kidding... I didn't cry because today was the big decade change. Surprising myself, I was slightly sad and nostalgic yesterday about moving out of my 20's. I've done so many things in the last decade: made and lost friends, moved (way too many times!), graduated from college, became an "adult", voted, got married which includes getting a new last name, bought a brand new car, had a baby, bought a house, gained a testimony, learned to appreciate what I have rather than want what isn't mine... essentially gained valuable perspective into my life.

I look forward to my 30's. I feel settled and I have the best family and friends.
What more could I ask for?

(Ok, so I wrote this and as I re-read it... REALLY?! I'm in my 30's now? No more 20-something birthdays?? Whoops - maybe I'm not ready...)

Whew. I'm over it. Bring on the 30's and it's going to be the BEST time ever!

Today I played lots with my perfect baby Seoul. I was reminded that I married the love of my life. I had lunch with my favorite sister Mindee. I got numerous birthday wishes from friends and family everywhere. I got to see my dear friend Jennie and her big boy Blake. I had a special dinner with my handsome husband and beautiful daughter. It was a lovely day. Life is good.

Look at her go!

After weeks of Seoul taking a few steps here and there we have decided Seoul is officially a walker. The other night she was toddling around after her cousins and chased a balloon around... more walking than crawling. So much fun!

She kept looking over at daddy in the office as if for approval then would pass the doorway. Notice she did keep going back and forth for him, though :)

Yep, never posted a video so no editing involved - and it's small. Feel free to turn OFF the volume so you can't hear my silly voice. Must LOVE Seoul's new pigtail look, though!

It's that time of year again!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!

Last night we did our brackets, Seoul included. Kelley devised an ingenious way for Seoul to pick her winners. She was pretty sure of her choices, too. As we kick off the first day of games the three of us are doing pretty well. Keep it coming!

Conversation:
Kelley - Why didn't we have Seoul do a bracket last year?
Joo Lin - She was less than two months old, silly!
Kelley - hmm...

This leads me to believe he will find a way for any child of ours to create a bracket no matter what age they are. Fun family rivalry!